DOLPHIN CLOCK FROM THE LATE LOUIS XVI PERIOD BY Julien BELIARD

In chiseled and gilded bronze, the dial is set in an urn flanked by dolphins forming handles, resting on a base with foliage motifs. The dial is signed JULIEN BELIARD and rests on a white marble plinth. 


Julien-Antoine Béliard (1758 - circa 1810) was one of the most important Parisian clockmakers of the last decades of the 18th century. The son, nephew, and cousin of Parisian clockmakers, Julien-Antoine trained in his father's workshop on Rue de Hurepoix, then registered his master's certificate on October 21, 1786, and took over the family workshop. He immediately enjoyed immense success among lovers of luxury timepieces and seems to have specialized in precision skeleton clocks. Like the great craftsmen of the capital, he surrounded himself with the best collaborators for the creation of his clocks, notably the bronze worker Nicolas Bonnet and the enamelist Joseph Coteau.

The dolphins refer to Bacchus' triumph over the Tyrrhenian pirates, who, after taking him prisoner on one of their ships, threw themselves into the sea in terror when faced with the god transformed into a lion. The men then turned into dolphins.

The upper part of our clock with the dolphins is similar to a clock illustrated in La Pendule française dans le monde (Tardy, part 2, p. 41).